Railway journal box dust and oil guard



Nov. 4,1958 E. P. WRIGHT 2,358,792

RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX DUST AND OIL GUARD Filed April 20, 1956 Jil /14,112: )1 954.14

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" gw W United States Patent RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX DUST AND OIL GUARD Edward P. Wright, Glendale, Califi, assignor to Turco Products, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif.

Application April 20, 1956, Serial N0. 579,538 .7 Claims. (Cl. 116-106 The invention relates to railway axle journal and journal box assemblies, and consists in a novel dust and oil guard associated with the journal and journal box, and arranged to maintain a seal between the journal and the wall of the box opening through which the journal projects, and includes a signal for indicating a rise in temperature of the journal bearing sufficient to create a hot box and endanger the journal or the bearing, or both.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating a selected form of the invention:

Figure l is a longitudinal section through an American Association of Railroads (A. A. R.) standard journal box mounted upon a journal and equipped with the novel dust guard.

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section on line 2-2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective of a container for signal material applicable to and removable from the dust guard body.

The axle is indicated at 1 and terminates in a journal 2 which mounts a bearing 3, which in turn supports a wedge 4 on which the top wall 5 of a cast metal journal box is seated. The box is of a familiar type and includes side walls 6, a rounded bottom wall 7, an inner rear wall 8 and an outer rear wall 9. Walls 8 and 9 are spaced apart lengthwise of the box and, with the adjacent portions of side walls 6 and bottom walls 7, form a dust guard pocket, the upper portion of which is open to accommodate the insertion and removal of the dust guard.

The dust guard is formed preferably of plastic material and is of plate-like formation having a central aperture 10 for receiving journal 2. Above aperture 10 the guard is substantially rigid and includes Walls 11 and 12 spaced apart axially of the aperture and forming a hollow compartment 13 between them. Below compartment 13 the body of the dust guard has a thick arcuate portion 14 and a more flexible accordion web-like horizontal and downward extension 15 terminating in a thick marginal portion 16 having a contour corresponding to the cross section contour of the lower portion of .the

box. Preferably portions 14 and 16 and the upper portions of walls 11 and 12 are provided with ribs 17 adapted to contact the opposing faces of the box pocket and to be distorted for providing a better seal between the guard and the pocket walls. A wire 18 is embedded in the material of the guard and is projected at the top of the guard to form handles 19 by which the guard is readily pulled from the box pocket. The rigid upper portion of the guard will avoid its flexing into position to be pinched between bearing 3 and the fillet between the journal and the adjacent portion of the axle. At the same time the lower portion of the guard may flex as required to accommodate movement of the journal relative to the box.

Figure 4 shows a rectangular container or cartridge 20 readily insertable in and removable from recess 13, and

2,858,792 Patented Nov. 4, 1958 charged with a chemical mixture which will give off smoke and odor when heated to a temperature of approximately F. or higher, which is well above the nor mal operating temperature of a journal bearing of the type illustrated, but is well below the temperature at which the bearing metal will be melted or the axle journal crystallized. Container 20 is provided with an escape opening 21 fitted with a seal 22 of fuse-like metal'also adapted to melt at a temperature of approximately 180 F. The signal material and the fuse material are well known in industry and, in themselves, do not constitute the present invention.

Recess 13 extends downwardly to the upper surface of aperture 10 so that the bottom of container 20 is either in contact with journal 2 or so close to journal 2 that the bottom of the container is subjected to the term perature of the journal surface, and if the temperature is raised above that normal to a journal of this type because of failure of lubrication, the container will be heated, its seal 22 destroyed and the signal material activated.

Preferably the sides of cartridge 20 and the opposing facesof the dust guard body are corrugated or roughened, as indicated at 23, to hold the cartridge against working out of the pocket due to vibrations when the car is moving.

The details of the structure may be varied withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and the exelusive use of those modifications coming within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is: Y

1. A railway journal box dust and oil guard comprising a body having an edge contour adapting the member to fit within a journal box dust guard pocket, the body having a through aperture, for receiving an axle journal, and having a recess extending from said aperture to the outer edge of the member, there being a removable normally-closed receptacle in said recess containing material which produces smoke and odor when heated to approximately 180 F., there being a port in said receptacle provided with a closure which is destroyed when subjected to said temperature.

2. A railway journal box dust and oil guard comprising a body having an edge contour adapting the member to fit within a journal box dust guard pocket, the body having a through aperture, for receiving an aXle journal, and having a recess extending downwardly from its upper edge and opening to said aperture, and a separately formed cartridge containing material which produces smoke and odor when heated to approximately 180 F., said cartridge being readily removed from and replaceable in said recess and including a closure in its upper end subject to melting at said temperature and including a bottom wall flush with the top of said aperture.

3. A dust and oil guard according to claim 1 wherein a part of the recess in the body merges with the axle receiving aperture and exposes a face of the cartridge to the aperture.

4. A railway journal dust guard comprising a body with a central aperture with a through passage for an axle journal, said body having an accordion-like folding sheet central section partially surrounding said central aperture to facilitate relative movement transversely of the passage axis between the periphery of said aperture and the more remote portions of the body, the body having a substantially thicker and more rigid portion spaced upwardly from the top of said central portion and provided with a recess extending to the outer edge of the body, and a replaceable cartridge received in said recess and provided with material producing smoke and odor at 180 F. and

type insertable into a journal box dust guard pocket and comprising a central part with a journal receiving aperture, that portion of the guard above said aperture being stiff and having a horizontal top edge and vertical side edges and having front and rear walls spaced from each other axially of the aperture and forming a hollow compartment between them extending from the top edge to the aperture, a telltale material contained in said compartment which produces smoke when heated to approximately 180 F. the marginal portions of the guard at the sides of and below said aperture having a U-shaped edge contour, there being an accordion-like web between said central part and said marginal portions deformable to accommodate their relative movement transversely of said axis.

6. A railway journal box oil and dust guard according to claim 5 which includes a readily removable container readily applicable to and removable from the hollow compartment between the spaced walls of the guard portion, from above the aperture and containing the telltale material.

7. A railway journal box oil and dust guard according to claim 5 which includes a removable container readily applicable to and removable from the hollow compartment between the spaced walls of the guard portion, from above the aperture, said container having a sealing closure which is destroyed when heated to approximately F.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,724,919 Fenske Aug. 20, 1929 1,979,875 Faus Nov. 6, 1934 2,280,755 Hexamer Apr. 21, 1942 2,487,669 Pattullo Nov. 8, 1949 2,497,864 Clutton Feb. 21, 1950 2,566,494 Leese Sept. 4, 1951 2,657,080 Johnson Oct. 27, 1953 2,692,783 Foss Oct. 26, 1954 2,711,709 Sullivan June 28, 1955 2,758,853 Beck Aug. 14, 1956 

